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Dr Emma Deas

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Research Summary

My research focus currently resides on unravelling the function and disease related dysregulation of the mitochondrial Parkinson’s Disease (PD) related protein kinase PINK1 and how aggregated forms of the PD related protein alpha-synuclein damage neurons.

PINK1:

Mutations in PINK1 are associated with early onset PD (EOPD) and are the second most common cause of recessive disease. In the past few years our understanding of PINK1 function has grown significantly and PINK1 has been linked to numerous cellular functions such as neuroprotection, mitochondrial fission-fusion and mitochondrial clearance through mitophagy, to name a few. Recently, though cellular and proteomic approaches I have identified a number of novel PINK1 protein interactors and I am currently exploring the significance of these interactions with respect to disease.

Alpha-synuclein:
Through collaboration with an expert team of biophysicists at Cambridge University, I have recently been investigating the damaging effects of monomeric, oligomeric and fibrillar forms of alpha-synuclein on healthy neurons. I am now in the process of determining the mechanism by which specific species of alpha-synuclein can cause neuronal death and investigating a means to reduce or prevent this damage from occuring.

Research Activities

  • A systematic investigation into the pathogenesis and course of Parkinson's syndrome
  • Cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration
  • Identification of new components in Parkinson's Disease signalling pathways

Recent Publications

Displaying 23 most recent publications. For the full list please visit UCL Discovery

  1. Siddall HK,Yellon DM,Ong SB,Mukherjee UA,Burke N,Hall AR,Angelova PR,Ludtmann MH,Deas E,Davidson SM,Mocanu MM,Hausenloy DJ (2013) Loss of PINK1 Increases the Heart's Vulnerability to Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury. PLoS One, 8(4), e62400. 10.1371/journal.pone.0062400.
  2. Wood-Kaczmar A,Deas E,Wood NW,Abramov AY (2013) The role of the mitochondrial NCX in the mechanism of neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease. Adv Exp Med Biol, 961, 241 - 249. 10.1007/978-1-4614-4756-6_20.
  3. Cremades N,Cohen SI,Deas E,Abramov AY,Chen AY,Orte A,Sandal M,Clarke RW,Dunne P,Aprile FA,Bertoncini CW,Wood NW,Knowles TP,Dobson CM,Klenerman D (2012) Direct observation of the interconversion of normal and toxic forms of α-synuclein. Cell, 149(5), 1048 - 1059. 10.1016/j.cell.2012.03.037.
  4. Plun-Favreau H,Burchell VS,Holmström KM,Yao Z,Deas E,Cain K,Fedele V,Moisoi N,Campanella M,Miguel Martins L,Wood NW,Gourine AV,Abramov AY (2012) HtrA2 deficiency causes mitochondrial uncoupling through the F₁F₀-ATP synthase and consequent ATP depletion. Cell Death Dis, 3, e335. 10.1038/cddis.2012.77.
  5. Duran R,Mencacci NE,Angeli AV,Shoai M,Deas E,Houlden H,Mehta A,Hughes D,Cox TM,Deegan P,Schapira AH,Lees AJ,Limousin P,Jarman PR,Bhatia KP,Wood NW,Hardy J,Foltynie T (2012) The glucocerobrosidase E326K variant predisposes to Parkinson's disease, but does not cause Gaucher's disease Movement Disorders.
  6. Pimenta de Castro I,Costa AC,Lam D,Tufi R,Fedele V,Moisoi N,Dinsdale D,Deas E,Loh SH,Martins LM (2012) Genetic analysis of mitochondrial protein misfolding in Drosophila melanogaster. Cell Death Differ, 19(8), 1308 - 1316. 10.1038/cdd.2012.5.
  7. Deas E,Plun-Favreau H,Gandhi S,Desmond H,Kjaer S,Loh SH,Renton AE,Harvey RJ,Whitworth AJ,Martins LM,Abramov AY,Wood NW (2011) PINK1 cleavage at position A103 by the mitochondrial protease PARL. Hum Mol Genet, 20(5), 867 - 879. 10.1093/hmg/ddq526.
  8. Deas E,Wood NW,Plun-Favreau H (2011) Mitophagy and Parkinson's disease: the PINK1-parkin link. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1813(4), 623 - 633. 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2010.08.007.
  9. Burchell VS,Gandhi S,Deas E,Wood NW,Abramov AY,Plun-Favreau H (2010) Targeting mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative disease: Part II. Expert Opin Ther Targets, 14(5), 497 - 511. 10.1517/14728221003730434.
  10. Burchell VS,Gandhi S,Deas E,Wood NW,Abramov AY,Plun-Favreau H (2010) Targeting mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative disease: Part I. Expert Opin Ther Targets, 14(4), 369 - 385. 10.1517/14728221003652489.
  11. Deas E,Dunn L (2010) Unraveling LRRK2 pathogenesis: common pathways for complex genes? J Neurosci, 30(5), 1577 - 1579. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5531-09.2010.
  12. Neumann J,Bras J,Deas E,O'Sullivan SS,Parkkinen L,Lachmann RH,Li A,Holton J,Guerreiro R,Paudel R,Segarane B,Singleton A,Lees A,Hardy J,Houlden H,Revesz T,Wood NW (2009) Glucocerebrosidase mutations in clinical and pathologically proven Parkinson's disease Brain, 132(7), 1783 - 1794. 10.1093/brain/awp044.
  13. Kalscheuer VM,Musante L,Fang C,Hoffmann K,Fuchs C,Carta E,Deas E,Venkateswarlu K,Menzel C,Ullmann R,Tommerup N,Dalprà L,Tzschach A,Selicorni A,Lüscher B,Ropers HH,Harvey K,Harvey RJ (2009) A balanced chromosomal translocation disrupting ARHGEF9 is associated with epilepsy, anxiety, aggression, and mental retardation. Hum Mutat, 30(1), 61 - 68. 10.1002/humu.20814.
  14. Neumann J,Parkkinen L,Bras J,O'sullivan SS,Deas E,Lachmann H,Li A,Holton L,Guerreiro R,Paudel R,Segarane B,Singleton A,Lees A,Hardy J,Houlden H,Revesz T,Wood NW (2009) Glucocerebrosidase mutations in clinical and pathologically proven Parkinson's disease NEUROPATHOLOGY AND APPLIED NEUROBIOLOGY, 35, 3 - 3.
  15. Gandhi S,Wood-Kaczmar A,Yao Z,Plun-Favreau H,Deas E,Klupsch K,Downward J,Latchman DS,Tabrizi SJ,Wood NW,Duchen MR,Abramov AY (2009) PINK1-associated Parkinson's disease is caused by neuronal vulnerability to calcium-induced cell death Molecular Cell, 33(5), 627 - 638. 10.1016/j.molcel.2009.02.013.
  16. Deas E,Plun-Favreau H,Wood NW (2009) PINK1 function in health and disease. EMBO Mol Med, 1(3), 152 - 165. 10.1002/emmm.200900024.
  17. Plun-Favreau H,Gandhi S,Wood-Kaczmar A,Deas E,Yao Z,Wood NW (2008) What have PINK1 and HtrA2 genes told us about the role of mitochondria in Parkinson's disease? Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1147, 30 - 36. 10.1196/annals.1427.032.
  18. Wood-Kaczmar A,Gandhi S,Yao Z,Abramov ASY,Miljan EA,Keen G,Stanyer L,Hargreaves I,Klupsch K,Deas E,Downward J,Mansfield L,Jat P,Taylor J,Heales S,Duchen MR,Latchman DL,Tabrizi SJ,Wood NW (2008) PINK1 is necessary for long term survival and mitochondrial function in human dopaminergic neurons PLoS ONE, 3(6), e2455. 10.1371/journal.pone.0002455.
  19. Plun-Favreau H,Klupsch K,Moisoi N,Gandhi S,Kjaer S,Frith D,Harvey K,Deas E,Harvey RJ,McDonald N,Wood NW,Martins LM,Downward J (2007) The mitochondrial protease HtrA2 is regulated by Parkinson's disease-associated kinase PINK1. Nature Cell Biology, 9(11), 1243 - 1252. 10.1038/ncb1644.
  20. Muqit MMK,Abou-Sleiman PM,Saurin AT,Harvey K,Gandhi S,Deas E,Eaton S,Payne Smith MD,Venner K,Matilla A,Healy DG,Gilks WP,Lees AJ,Holton J,Revesz T,Parker PJ,Harvey RJ,Wood NW,Latchman DS (2006) Altered cleavage and localisation of PINK1 to aggresomes in the presence of proteasomal stress Journal of Neurochemistry, 98, 156 - 159. 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2006.03845.x.
  21. Abou-Sleiman PM,Muqit MM,McDonald NQ,Yang YX,Gandhi S,Healy DG,Harvey K,Harvey RJ,Deas E,Bhatia K,Quinn N,Lees A,Latchman DS,Wood NW (2006) A heterozygous effect for PINK1 mutations in Parkinson's disease? Ann Neurol, 60(4), 414 - 419. 10.1002/ana.20960.
  22. Muqit MM,Gandhi S,Deas E,Abou-Sleiman PM,Harvey K,Harvey RJ,Wood NW,Latchman DS (2006) A site-directed mutagenesis study of putative cleavage sites of the Parkinson's disease associated gene, PINK1 MOVEMENT DISORDERS, 21, S560 - S560.
  23. Ditzel M,Wilson R,Tenev T,Zachariou A,Paul A,Deas E,Meier P (2003) Degradation of DIAP1 by the N-end rule pathway is essential for regulating apoptosis. Nat Cell Biol, 5(5), 467 - 473. 10.1038/ncb984.

Qualifications

  • 2005: Doctor of Philosophy, Institute of Cancer Research
  • 2000: Bachelor of Science (Honours), University of Edinburgh